


Unfinished Buisness

by Barrel



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Angst, Family Fluff, Gen, Ghost Takumi, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest, everyday I cry about what happened to takumi in conquest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2018-12-03 05:28:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11525499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Barrel/pseuds/Barrel
Summary: Elise starts seeing ghosts, or maybe just the ghost of the second Hoshidan prince.Takumi wakes up with no recollection of the war.The war between Nohr and Hoshido may be over, but the unseen enemy still remains.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when the house is out of wifi for a week
> 
> Huge shout out to my friend who helped me edit it

It was a hot day when it happened. 

Considering that Hoshido was well known for its sun, that wasn’t the best description. But to Elise, that was one of most notable aspects of that day. The sun glared down, and even in the shade of a tree, she was working up a sweat. Just a few paces away from her was Sakura, notching another arrow, aiming, and firing, leaving a resounding _thwack_ on the target in its wake. The repetitive sound was comforting, really, and she preferred admiring Sakura’s form to being stuck in a stuffy council room listening to stuffy old people talk and discuss—argue—about the same things over and over again, like Leo was. He would probably to come after her for ditching him, but since Sakura was here, she probably didn’t have to attend. Probably?

Just as she went to lean back and close her eyes, an eerily familiar voice sounded from beside her. “You have too much tension in your upper back, you have to relax.”

Elise yelped and twisted her head to the source to meet the face of Takumi, the second Hoshidan prince; the prince who fell off the wall at the defeat of the Great Wall of Suzanoh, the prince who somehow came back to fight them again in the throne room only to dissolve away when defeated, the prince who was currently looking at her like she’d grown a second head.

“E…Elise? Is something wrong?” Elise tore her eyes from the—ghost? Hallucination? She didn’t remember hitting her head or drinking an experimental potion.

Sakura was looking at her questioningly, meaning she didn’t see her dead brother. Alright, okay.

Elise waved her hands frantically. “No! Nothing’s wrong! I, uh…” Her eyes shot a quick glance to Takumi who was looking at the exchange with something akin to amusement. “I just thought that maybe that your form was a bit off? Your upper back is too tense? Try to relax, I think.”

Sakura blinked, then gave a small smile. “I have been more nervous than usual lately. I should have figured that it was linked to my shots not being as good.” She looked down to the bow she was gripping and back up again. “Thank you.”

Elise waved it off. “It’s just an observation, is all!”

As Sakura went back to her practice, Elise took the chance to fully look at the ghost again. Takumi was staring at her with a dumfounded expression as if she grew more than just two heads.

* * *

Takumi woke up slowly.

He remembered mother dying in the arms of a long lost sister, Corrin—why did that name bring so much aching to his heart? He could faintly remember a battlefield; Corrin, it was always Corrin, standing in the middle caught between two sides. She opened her mouth and said words that he can’t hear.

He remembered falling.

He did not remember the rest.

Everything from that point on blurred together; it reminded Takumi of his nightmares, where he would jolt up in bed in the dead of the night with the dream already forgotten but the terror that it carried still there.

He finally woke properly on a chilly winter day to the sound of Sakura’s sniffling.

It’s her crying that he recognized first. He took in the blurry splotches of white and pink and blinked, his vision clearing slightly until he could recognize the pink silhouette in front of him as Sakura. He blinked again, and the outlines of the snow-laden trees become more visible. He wriggled his fingers and feeling rushed back to him. He brought his hands to his face and rubbed at his eyes, and he was finally aware. 

“Sakura?” Takumi tried, but her soft crying didn’t stop. Takumi frowned and raised his hand to touch her shoulder, “Sakura? What’s wrong?” His hand passed through her.

 _His hand passed through her_.

While being a ghost—oh gods, he was terrified of ghosts—was not an ideal situation to be in, Takumi was eternally grateful that no one was able to hear the inhuman shriek he let out.

* * *

Takumi spent the next few months trailing after Sakura while trying to piece together what had happened. No one could see or hear him, meaning he had to pull assumptions from the chattering servants or the council meetings that Hinoka and occasionally Sakura would attend.

From this, he figured out five things.

One: Hoshido fell. Or, that is what was whispered in the halls; the queen, Hinoka, still held full reign over Hoshido, meaning Nohr had not taken over. He wondered why.

Two: Corrin had chosen to side with Nohr. This was glaringly obvious from how he had yet to see her in the castle, and her room was as untouched as ever. Sometimes he let himself wonder where Azura was as well.

Three: Ryoma fell in battle as Hoshido’s last line of defense. He learned this in a council meeting’s heated discussion on what to do with Raijinto. It was easy to put two and two together; Ryoma was a dedicated and amazing Samurai who thoroughly upheld the Bushido code. As soon as it was mentioned they had to clean blood, Ryoma’s blood, off the blade, a wave of nausea hit him, and he promptly ran past and through the people in the room and halls to his room. Huddled in the corner of his untouched room, collecting dust, he briefly wondered why something incorporeal like him could feel sick. He briefly wondered why it was him and not Ryoma or mother that was stuck here. 

Four: Hinata and Oboro were dead. Really, he should have figured this out sooner. Those two were ridiculous but loyal, and he knew they would follow him to the ends of the earth if he’d ask. But it was only as he walked past the training grounds, where he spotted a small memorial etched with two names that were all too familiar, where he curled up right there and then, that he mourned. He couldn’t bring himself to be self-conscious in displaying something so weak; no one could see him, and he was utterly and completely alone. 

Five: he was dead, and he didn’t know how, when, or why.

* * *

Winter turned to spring, then to summer. Takumi took note of the growing tension and figured out why. Nohrians were to be arriving in Hoshido on the anniversary of the original peace treaty, something that he had missed in the blank space of then and now. It was both to affirm good relations and make adjustments to the agreement if needed. 

From reading over Sakura’s shoulder as she wrote to the youngest princess in Nohr, he learned that the youngest two Nohr siblings would be attending. He felt a pang of guilt whenever he did so. It felt like an invasion of privacy, but the number of times Sakura smiled while reading or writing a letter was far more than she did the rest of the time. He couldn’t bring himself to tear his eyes away.

When the Nohrians did come, they came in a mini-procession. Takumi rolled his eyes at the extravagance of it and slunk away to entertain himself in the hunting grounds. Even though they couldn’t see him, he couldn’t bring himself to face the Nohrians just yet.

The next afternoon as he turned the corner, he proceeded to collide and pass through a Nohrian who walked in confident strides as if he owned the place, followed by a creepy archer with an eye patch. Takumi took a look at his face and noted the ridiculous headband. The second Nohrian prince, his mind supplied—an asshole, Takumi decided. He then turned and stalked off to the archery grounds, opposite of the council room where Asshole was likely going. He would peek over Hinoka’s shoulder at the notes later.

He was met at the archery ground by the sound of Sakura practicing, and spotted the youngest Nohrian princess watching under the shade of a tree. He settled beside her to watch as Sakura notched another arrow.

“You have too much tension in your upper back,” he noted, giving his usual advice despite Sakura not being able to hear him. “You have to relax.” Next to him, the Nohrian princess jumped. He blinked at her; she couldn’t have possibly heard him could she? 

“E…Elise? Is something wrong?” Sakura had paused her practice to look at the Nohrian princess. 

Elise waved her hands in front of her. “No! Nothing’s wrong! I uh…I just thought that maybe that your form was a bit off? Your upper back is too tense? Try to relax, I think.” Takumi gaped at her; she had just repeated what he had said. Could she hear him?  
  
He missed the exchange between Sakura and Elise, anxiety bubbling within him. Perhaps it had been a fluke; after all, there was no reason a Nohrian princess whom he had never spoken to before would be able to see him.

She then proceeded to turn around and lock eyes with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have not written fanfiction since 2013 so I am probably very rusty but this idea has been in my head for almost a year so I gave it a shot. I have most of the story outlined and planned out so I'll hopefully be able to complete it.
> 
> Comments are very much appreciated ♥


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introductions are made, once again or for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I Live

The silence between them was stretched painfully thin. Elise could not bring herself to tear her gaze that was locked with Takumi’s, the only thing that registered the passing of time was the sound of Sakura’s arrows repeatedly hitting their target. Then Takumi jerked his head back, his gaze almost fearful – hazel eyes, not red, Elise dimly registered – and the spell was broken.

“Wait!” Elise frantically whispered, and without thinking reached forward and grabbed him by his arm. Takumi felt… unworldly. He felt misty and, while she definitely gripped _something_ , it did not feel like she was holding anything at all. Yet she was still effective in stopping Takumi, who looked at her with apprehension. Now that she looked properly he was translucent too, she could see the intricate design of Castle Shirasagi through him. 

Elise shot an anxious glance at Sakura, who was thankfully too preoccupied with practice to notice her. Unfortunately, the moment she did that, Takumi used the opportunity to wrench his arm from her grip. He staggered back, not once breaking eye contact with her, and before she could call after him, he turned and fled into the castle.

* * *

 

Elise strode through the halls of the castle with determination, casting glances in hopes of catching a glimpse of Takumi. After Sakura had finished her practice and headed to wash up, she excused herself for an opportunity to look for the hopefully-not-imaginary ghost. She could do this! She just had to keep looking. Where else would he go?

A shadow fell over from behind her and she jumped when a hand fell on her shoulder.

“Elise,” Leo said.

Oh, she forgot about that. 

Elise turned around to give Leo the most innocent smile she could muster, “Hey Leo! How was the meeting?”

Leo’s eyes narrowed; he grabbed her wrist and proceeded to drag her off to her room.

“Hey Niles,” Elise said as Leo pushed her inside.

“Hello Lady Elise,” Niles managed to reply before Leo slammed close the sliding door of the room.

“Elise,” Leo grounded out, glaring at her with his back to the door, “I thought I told you to come to the meeting with me.”

“Uh,” Elise folded her arms behind her back, “whoops?" 

“Elise! As the visiting royals of Nohr it is important that we both- “  
  
“Or,” Elise grinned out, “you were nervous and missed me?”

Leo massaged his temples and groaned. “Elise, please –”

However, Elise was distracted from Leo’s lecture when the door behind glowed and the ghost who she was looking for walked through it.

She blinked, locking eyes with him again, the experience almost as surreal as the first time. Takumi blinked back, looking between her and Leo before wrinkling his nose and hurriedly stepped back out of the room.

“Elise? Elise.” Leo’s hand snapping in front of her face brought her back into focus on him.

“Whuh?”

Leo groaned, “Listen, I’m making you attend the next meeting the day after. I will drag you there myself if I have to.”

“What?” Elise cried, “Why?”

Leo rolled his eyes as he slid open the door, “You really weren’t listening at all. Look, you won’t need to the attend the last meeting if you come, deal?" 

Elise brightened. “Deal!”

Leo gave a small smile as he stepped out of the room, “By the way,” he frowned, “Where are your retainers?”

“Oh, Arthur got lost on the way to the archery training grounds,” Elise giggled, “and Effie is becoming aquatinted with one of Sakura’s retainers.”

Leo sighed. “I suppose it is relatively safe… but please find someone to accompany you alright?”

“Okay! Bye!" 

Leo slid the door shut and Elise bounced on her heels until she determined he was far enough before sliding the door open to scan the hall. She immediately spotted Takumi a short distance, looking back at her like a child caught stealing candy from the jar. Without bothering to check if anyone else was around, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him into her room with surprisingly little effort.

“Huh? Hey!” he managed to get in before she quickly slid the door closed again.

“There!” she proclaimed, turning back to face him. “Now you can’t run from me!”

Takumi raised an eyebrow. “You just saw me pass through a wall.”

Elise blinked. “Oh, right.”

Takumi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why am I stuck with you, of all people?”

“Huh? Do you mean no one has seen you?”

Takumi folded his arms. “Yeah, so far.”

“Hm,” Elise said as she plopped down on her bed, now somewhat certain that he would not run away. “I wonder why.”

Takumi frowned. “I wouldn’t know, I’ve never seen you before. Well,” he gestured with his hand vaguely, “besides just now.”

“What?” Elise gaped. “But you shot me that one time!” 

“I’d imagine in war I would be shooting several people” 

Elise flushed. “Well, yeah, but you know, that one time in Cheve before we even started fighting, or maybe that time when we fought you at the harbor, we also saw each other plenty in Izumo I think- ”

Elise paused; Takumi was ignoring her.

“Cheve?” Takumi was mumbling to himself, hand on chin, “Why would I have been in Cheve? Though I suppose it would make sense considering the rumor of rebellion-“ 

“Uh, Takumi?”

“– allying with Cheve would mean getting a station closer to Nohr, but Hoshido lost, what happened to– “  
  
“Takumi!” Elise called before promptly jabbing his side with her finger.

Takumi shrieked and proceeded to turn a brilliant shade of red.

“Well,” he said, before turning as if to leave, “bye.”

Elise quickly latched on to his arm and held firm. “You’re not going anywhere.” 

“That never happened,” he shot back.

Elise rolled her eyes. “Please, I’ve seen Leo let out higher pitched shrieks than that.” 

Takumi paused. “Wait, really?”

 _That wasn’t confidential information, was it?_ Elise wondered. 

Nah.

“Yep.”

Takumi slowly sat down on her bed, as much as he could anyway; he was positioned as if he was sitting, but she could see a small gap between him and the bed. Elise beamed. 

“So!” Elise said to Takumi as she leaned towards him, he in turn leaned away as if he wanted to bolt but remained determinedly on the bed, “do you really not remember seeing me before?”

“No,” he fidgeted, almost looking embarrassed – he really was different from the enemy they fought in the destroyed throne room, Elise noticed – “I can barely remember the war actually." 

“Has nothing jolted your memory since you woke?”

“I’ve noted some very major events of the war,” Takumi said dryly. “If I can’t remember after that I don’t know what will.”

Maybe it was a good thing that he couldn’t remember, Elise thought; if this was the Takumi before the war, she’d hate that he return to the person who had broken down in despair in front of Corrin before throwing himself of the wall.

It was terrifying, what heartbreak could do.

“Actually, now that you mentioned it,” Takumi spoke up, “do you know how I died?”

Elise winced. She looked up to meet Takumi’s eyes, but did not know him well enough to be able to understand what he could be thinking, she paused before saying carefully, “Do you really want to know?” 

“I do,” he said firmly, “I’ve spent over month trying to figure out what happened. I – I deserve to know.”

She took in a shaky breath. How do you break to someone that they were possessed by an unknown entity - that just so happened to also possess the king of the country that took over theirs - which subsequently led to their death?

“You’re right, but can you give me some time to figure out how to say it?”

She saw him frown but then nod with the barest hint of a smile

“As long as you tell me eventually.”

She beamed back at him, “I’ll tell you before I go back home. That’s a promise.”

They fell into a silence. 

“You know,” Elise started – Takumi raised an eyebrow at her, but she pressed on – “how do I know that you’re not some trick of the imagination? That’s what I thought you were when I first saw you.”

“Well, I know I’m not,” Takumi said, “and I would tell you something only I would know, but you would have to ask Sakura, and I don’t want to upset her…”

“Hmm” Elise pondered, something only he would know….

“Oh! I know!" she exclaimed, before heading over to rummage through the boxes in her guest room. Takumi floated curiously behind her.

"A shogi game?" he asked as she held it out in triumph.

Elise took the box containing the pieces, squeezing her eyes; she shuffled through it before taking one out and holding out towards Takumi.

"Okay! What does this say?"

"Actually, it's facing the wrong way."

She grumbled but fumbled to get another piece. "What about now?"

"It’s the silver general piece." 

Elise opened her eyes and flipped it around to squint at it, trying to best of her ability to recover her rusty Hoshidan.

"Huh. I can barely understand it, and I don't know much about shogi, but I think you're right."

She heard Takumi groan.

Elise thumbed the piece, thoughtful. "So we know you're not a figment of my imagination. Now what?"

There was a beat of silence.

Takumi cleared his throat. "You said you didn't know much about shogi?"

“Yeah?"

Shogi, as it turned out, was rather similar to chess, the game that Leo always beat her in.

She told Takumi so, as she leaned over board with Takumi’s pieces advancing menacingly upon hers. 

“Really?” he said, pointing to the piece he wanted to move. She did so, groaning in defeat as it secured his win. “That would be interesting to play.”

“Too bad we didn’t bring the board,” she said, but paused. “Actually, knowing Leo, he probably did to play against himself.”

“I do that with shogi too,” Takumi said, sounding surprised. “I mean, I used to.”

Considering how efficiently he beat her, no matter how new at the game she was, she could see why.

“You know,” she said. “I think you two would make great friends.”

He wrinkled his nose but cast his eyes down on the board. “Maybe.”

She took in his expression before reaching out to arrange the board back to the starting positions. “I was just warming up, let’s go for another round.”

Dinnertime had Effie and Arthur looking to find her alone in her room staring very determinedly at a shogi board midgame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah I have nothing to defend myself but now that what is probably the most hectic semester I've experienced is over maybe this time I don't have to wait a whole 6 months before updating? maybe


End file.
